Team Disney
by ZootyCutie
Summary: The Disney Universe gets tilted on it's ear when it gets merged and humanized! Copyright info in first chapter.
1. Welcome to Toonopia

(A/N: All the characters are humanized/already human

(A/N: All the characters are humanized/already human. Disney (and a few also by Amblin Entertainment, while a few other are also owned by Ruyard Kipling) owns some of the original characters (In any form, I own Penny, Amity, Connor, Jane, Schoolgirl, Goggles, Baseball Cap, Paunchy, T.E.S.T (Tess), and Sis Wildcat (Wynona)). I don't own the originals of the others, but I do own all of the/any of the humanizations. This is not made for profit, just for fun. Enjoy!)

Have you ever had one of those days? One of those days where you feel like you just don't belong? Like, no one even cares that you exist? Could this be one of those days? Maybe tomorrow? Was it yesterday? Maybe it's not even a day. Maybe it's a week, or even a month? Or, even as scary as it sounds, your whole life? This is the story about a girl. A girl with a dream, a sense of adventure, and no clue what's going on with her life.

It was a beautiful, sunny day in a far-off town known as Toonopia. If the name sounds funny, you should see the place and its people! The buildings seemed to touch the clouds, and the streets were filled with cars that looked like they smiled at you. Everyone greeted everyone with a "how do you do", and they were greeted back with a "fine, how are you". A song seemed to fill the hearts of everyone, and a smile seemed to be plastered on every face. Well, on every face except for one girl. She looked like she was only fifteen years old. She had aqua blue hair, orange glasses, and a private school's uniform on. Now, the strange thing is, Toonopia has no private schools. Even if they did, this uniform wasn't even related to anything of Toonopia. She lugged a suitcase behind her, and was staring at a map, with a confused face on her.

"The mansion has to be here somewhere!" the girl said, looking at the map. The trouble was, she was looking at the map, and not where she was going. She ended up running smack face with someone else, knocking them both down.

After the two sprawled down onto the ground, the girl quickly picked herself up to help the person she ran into. He was a boy that was older than her, and was Hispanic. He had slightly long green hair, and wore a yellow suit shirt, green pants that matched his hair, yellow shoes, a black bowtie, and a yellow Panama hat. He carried a black umbrella, and he originally had a cigar in his mouth, but it was knocked onto the sidewalk due to the collision.

"I'm so sorry!" The girl said, helping the boy up.

"Não se preocupar. Don't worry." He said, in Portuguese, then in English with a Brazilian accent.

"You know Portuguese?" The girl asked.

"Yep." The boy said. "I'm José. Who are you? I've never seen you around Toonopia."

"My name's Penny." The girl said. "I just came back from a private school, and I'm trying to find a McDrayke manor."

"Well, you're on the right path." José said, looking at her map. "You just need to keep going straight, and then you'll see a money bin. That's when you know that you're there."

"Wow, thanks for the help, José!" Penny said.

"Você é bem-vindo. You're welcome." With that, José went on his way, and Penny went on hers. Pretty soon, she made it to McDrayke manor. With a strange look on her face, one of fear, she cautiously pressed the doorbell button. In an odd way, I must add. She pressed it three times while it was still going, making it reverb. Pretty soon, a sound that could be mistaken for a pack of cattle stampede came to the door, and flung it open, then something landed on her, knocking her down to the ground. Well, more like three things.

"Penny!" The three things said. They were three triplet boys, each with white hair, white pants, and yellow shoes. The only way they could be told apart was by their turtlenecks and baseball caps, each one having a different color: red, blue, or green.

"Huey, Dewey, Louie!" Penny said, giving them all a hug. "It's great to see you!"

"It's great to see you too, Penny!" The red clad one said. He was Huey.

"It's been so long!" The one wearing blue said, returning Penny's hug. His name was Dewey.

"Unca Scrooge has been waiting." The green outfitted one said. He was Louie.

"Well, he might be your uncle, but he's more to me." Penny said, lifting the boys off of her, and then dragging her suitcase inside the mansion. Four boys were waiting for her. One had white hair with two ahoge, and he was clad in a blue sailor suit, with pants and shoes like the triplets. The other also hair white hair, but his was spiked back, and he wore a slightly messed up suit. The third was slightly bulky, with red hair that stuck out of his aviator's cap, which perfectly went with the rest of his outfit, which was a full aviator's outfit. The final was tall and skinny, with darker red hair, glasses, a pink collared shirt, black vest, brown pants, yellow shoes, and a yellow boater hat.

"Donald! Fenton! Lucas! Gary!" Penny was thrilled to see the boys, and they all joined her in a group hug.

"It's great to see you!" The sailor suited boy said. He was Donald, and hugging the hardest.

"You really shot up like a weed!" The spiky-haired one said, mussing up Penny's hair. He was Fenton.

"Geez, it's been forever!" The bulky one said. He was Lucas, but almost everyone else called him Launchpad.

"Penny, it's been years! You look just like how I remember you!" The skinny one said. His name was Gary, but practically everyone called him Gyro.

"All my old friends are here!" Penny said, but strangely only referring to Fenton, Launchpad, and Gyro.

"Hey, don't forget about us!" Donald said.

"Yeah!" The triplets said in unison.

"Oh, how could I forget you guys?" Penny said. "After all, you are…my cousins…"

"And since we're family, it's time to see the rest of your family!" Donald said.

As soon as he said this, someone came into the room. He was an older man with white hair that was slightly long, white pants, yellow shoes with red spats, a black top hat with a red band, a blue shirt with a red band, cuffs, and collar, and a pair of circular pince-nez glasses. He carried a brown cane that he used to walk into the room. He was Scrooge McDrayke, the richest man in Toonopia. When he saw Penny, he took off his glasses to see if he was seeing right, then put them back on.

"Hello, Penny." He said, with only a slight happiness to his voice.

Penny swallowed hard, then took a deep breath, and responded:

"Hello…Dad…"


	2. Toonopia University

There was a long and tense silence after Penny spoke. A while later, Penny walked her suitcase up a flight of stairs into a room. The door was old and dusty, with a sign tacked on it that said "Do Not Enter". She pulled off the sign, and walked into the room. It was her room, from ten years ago. Penny had spent almost ten years of her life in a boarding school in a far off state. She was in the middle of her tenth year, when it abruptly closed. She could only remember her cousins, her older friends that she knew, and her father. She had made only one friend in the boarding school, but she had moved back to Brazil, where she was originally raised.

"Why did it close?" Penny asked herself. "Why did it have to cast me back to this place?"

After she said this, she slung her suitcase onto her bed, which, like the rest of the room, looked old and little kiddish. The only things she had in it were a pair of pajamas, a swimsuit, and a photo album. They all were the same: a maroon color with a gold logo. It was the colors of the school. The colors were also on her school uniform, which were the only other clothes she had. The clothes in her closet were too small for her, even too small for the triplets (if they would even be caught wearing them). They were outdated and old, with a few of them made Swiss cheese by moths. She sighed, and slumped onto her bed. A few minute later, she went out of her room, and walked into the dining room, where dinner was being served. She sat as close to her friends and cousins as possible, and as far away from her dad as she could. After dinner, she spent the rest of the night in her room, and eventually fell asleep. She ended up dreaming, but she couldn't see the dream. She could only hear voices. Voices that seemed familiar, but impossible for her to picture the faces.

"What happened here?"

"Is everyone alright?"

"They're not responding. They're legally dead."

"There's still a baby here!"

"She's still alive!"

"We need to get her to an orphanage!"

The voices were interrupted by the sound of an alarm clock. It was an old and scratchy ringing noise from an outdated and slightly battered classic alarm clock. Penny shut it off, put her glasses on, and walked downstairs, where the others were eating breakfast. A small robot, only about the size of a doll, with a metal framework body, a light bulb for a head, and brown doll shoes was helping to serve the breakfast. He gave Penny a plate full of food, and she gave him a small smile.

"Thanks, Little Helper." She said to the robot, and started to eat her food. Despite being the last one there, she was the first one to finish her food. She hastily took a shower, and was forced to borrow clothes from the others, due to the fact that her clothes didn't fit. She ended up with a pale green pair of Fenton's suit pants, a white t-shirt with an odd purple "DWD" logo from Launchpad, a dark blue vest from Gyro, and one of Donald's bow ties as a hair tie, which she pulled up into a ponytail. She wore her penny loafers from her school uniform as well. She then rummaged through her closet for a backpack, and only to come back with a small, cheap, and slightly out of date "Lunar Sailor" backpack from her childhood. After rushing down the stairs, and receiving a brown bagged lunch from Little Helper, she followed Donald and the triplets to the bus stop of Toonopia University, where all the elementary, middle, and high school students went. They were the only ones at the stop. For what seemed like forever, they waited, and the bus finally pulled up. The driver was a young adult with short blond hair, and wore a yellow t-shirt, black vest, grey shoes, white pants with a red patch, and a yellow and black flat cap with a name tag that said "BENNY" on it.

"Hey, Don. Hue, Dew, Lou." The bus driver said in a New York accent, as the boys got on. Then he noticed Penny. "Well, who do we have here?"

"Penny." Penny said, looking at the ground. "And I'm guessing you're Benny."

"No, I'm Indiana Jones." Benny said sarcastically.

Penny said nothing, and got on the bus, taking a lonely seat on the bus. No one sat next to her, so she just stared out the window, trying to remember the town, and talking to herself.

"There's the old park. I remember that doughnut shop. There's the library, the old video store, and the…five boys in the alleyway!?!?!"

She was about the question this, when the bus made a stop at the school.

"Well, here we are: Toonopia University!" Benny said, as he opened the door for the kids to get out. As soon as he did, almost all of the students ran out of the bus, except for Penny, who walked out of the bus.

"See you later, Penn!" Benny called, as Penny winced at the new nickname that was given to her. She walked into the school, and straight into the main office. Three adults were working there, two men and one woman. They all had grey hair, and grey suits. One of the men was small, slightly portly, and a messily put on suit. The other man was taller, slightly muscular, and had a sharp haircut. The woman looked older than the others, had medium length wavy hair, and a skirt instead of the pants that the men had. They were all in their own desks, working on computers. The woman was the first to notice Penny.

"Ah, you must be Penelope Parita, am I right?" She asked.

"Yes." Penny politely said.

"You're father said that you'd be joining us here." The taller man said. "Here's your schedule."

"Thank you." Penny said, accepting the schedule, and walking out of the office.

"See ya later, dude!" The smaller man called out.

"Hugo!" The other two snapped at him.

As Penny left the office, she started to walk the halls, looking at her schedule to try and find the first class, ending up at room 108: Classic Literature. She walked into the room, and sat in the front row, in the first desk she could find. A boy, one that was a little older than her, and sitting to the right stared at her. He had long green hair, wore green pants, green shoes, and a tan shirt with long green sleeves decorated with half circles. The odd thing was, he had a fang jutting out of his upper lip, and the whites of his eyes were a bright yellow.

"Sssssay, who do we have here?" the boy said, stretching out his "s" like a snake. "It'ssss a new girl. A sssscared little new girl!"

"Who are you?" Penny said, slightly inching away.

"Oh, pleasssse pardon my mannerssss. I'm Kahn." The boy said, trying to be polite. "Now, look me in the eyes…"

"Oh, come off it, Kahn!" A boy sitting on Penny's left said. He had long blonde hair that was neatly parted in the middle, but with a few stray strands on the top, and wore taupe pants, yellow shoes, and a brown leather jacket with a white collar and grey sleeves. His accent was Liverpuddilan.

"You ssstay out of thissss, Fletcher!" Kahn called out to the other boy. "Thisssss issss between me and the new girl!"

"Ah, you're just a bloomin' jerk!" Fletcher said. "Leave this little miss alone!"

"You'll ssssssee. I'll get her ssssssoon!" Kahn said, and then turned away.

"…Thanks." Penny said to Fletcher, extending her hand. "I'm Penny."

"The name's Fletcher, and don't let that two-timin' jerk ever try to convince you." Fletcher said, shaking her hand.

Pretty soon, the door swung open, and two men came into the room. One was slightly older, and had brown hair, plus a brown mustache. He wore a white collared shirt under a brown suit, with a green tie, and a blue deerstalker cap. The other one was a young adult, with black hair in a neat ponytail. He wore black pants, navy shoes, a navy long sleeved collared shirt, and rectangular pince-nez glasses. He sat down on a chair close to the teacher desk, while the other man sat down at the teacher's desk. He then grabbed a clipboard, and checked it, then eyed Penny.

"You must be Miss Penelope Parita, am I right?" He said to Penny, in a British accent.

"Yes." Penny said, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"Welcome to the class." The younger man said, also with a British accent.

"Thank you, sirs." Penny said.

"Oh, please." The older man said. "You shall call us by our teaching names."

"And those are?" Penny asked.

"You shall call me Mr. Rattan, and my student teacher shall go as Barnett." He said.

"Okay." Penny said, sounding slightly confused.

"Anyways, who read the story that was assigned for last night?" Mr. Rattan asked the class, with silence returning. "Did anyone read the story?"

"I did." Kahn said, raising his hand. "I found the sssstory riveting, with flawed charactersss, and classsssic American humor."

"You just read notes on the book, didn't you?" Barnett asked, pulling off his glasses, and shaking them accusingly at Kahn.

"Yesss, ssssir." Kahn said, looking embarrassed.

"Well, did anyone read the story?" Mr. Rattan asked, to more silence. "Well then, you will read the rest of the book as homework. Except for you, Penny. You don't have to read the book."

"What book is it?" Penny asked.

"Huckleberry Finn." Barnett said.

"Oh, that's okay." Penny said. "I read that book a few years ago."

"Um…" Mr. Rattan said, with a loss of words, as the bell rang.

Penny took her schedule and walked to her next class. Her first day at Toonopia University had started, and she could tell that it wouldn't be over soon.


	3. School Daze

According to Penny's schedule, her next class would be World Geography, which was a few doors past the class she was just in. She quickly was able to find it, and hastily grabbed a seat. A girl sat on her right, another on her left, and yet another sat behind her. They all wore dresses with puffy sleeves, high heels, and bows in their hair, but each of them varied. The girl on her left had a pink dress with white polka dots, and her shoes and bow was pink as well. She had black hair in two mini buns with a few strands of hair let loose. The girl on her right's dress, bow, and shoes were purple. She also wore a gold bangle bracelet, and had white hair in a high ponytail. The girl behind her wore a dark blue dress, bow, and shoes, and had black hair in a ponytail, plus wore a cowbell like a necklace. She was taller than the other girls.

"Let me see..." The taller girl said. "Green suit pants. I see some Fenton flair."

"A vintage Darkwing Defender t-shirt." The pink clad girl said. "Totally Launchpad couture."

"A solid black vest, with chemical wear and tear?" The purple wearing girl inquired. "Perfectly Gyro chic."

"And what's this? A black bowtie for a ponytail holder?" The tall girl asked.

"Totally Donald panache!" The pink and purple wearing girls said at the same time.

"And by these conclusions…" The pink wearing one said.

"…You must live in McDrayke Manor!" The purple clad one said.

"Yeah." Penny said, sounding unimpressed. "Mr. McDrayke's my father."

"So that mean's Donald's your cousin?" The purple wearing one asked.

"Yep." Penny said.

"Wow! You're cousin's my boyfriend!" The purple wearing one said. "I know you! You're Penny!"

"Whoa, you're right!" Penny said, with a slight shock. "You must be Daisy. Donald had told me about you in his letters he wrote to me.

"It's so great to meet you!" Daisy said, hugging onto Penny, while Penny tried to break free.

"Hi." The pink wearing one said, waving to Penny. "I'm Minnie, and that's Clarabelle. Sorry about how Daisy's acting."

"Don't worry." Penny said, finally getting out of the grip.

Suddenly, the door cracked open, and a man came in. He was small, and slightly portly. He wore a blue suit top, with brown suit pants, a white undershirt, brown shoes, a red tie, and a purple bowler hat. He looked even more nervous than any student could on the first day of class.

"O-okay students." He stuttered. Like the other two teachers, he had a British accent. "We have a new student. Penny, please come up to the front."

"Okay." Penny said, sliding out of her desk and walking to the front.

"Class, this is Penny." The teacher said. "I hope you'll enjoy having her in our class."

"I'll get you, Parita!" A voice called from the very back of the class.

"SHUT UP, KAHN!" The rest of the class yelled in unison to the voice.

"Um…" Penny said, with a loss of words.

"Well, uh, I'm Mr. Moliarty, and I'll be your World Geography teacher." The teacher said to Penny, as she returned to her desk. "Okay, class. Let's review over yesterday's lesson…"

In about a half hour, the period ended, and Penny headed to her next class: Chemistry. She knew the chemistry teacher already. It was none other than her and Donald's uncle: Ludwig Von Dryke. She went up the stairs to the lab, and sat in one of the empty seats on the two-people tables. The person sitting next to her peered over at her, and then got a strange look on his face. He was a Hispanic boy, also a little older than her, with red hair in a ponytail, and spiked in the front to look like a rooster's comb. He wore a dark red charro outfit with gold trimming, a lighter red shirt under the jacket, a pair of yellow shoes with silver spurs, and a old tan sombrero. Everything on him said Mexico.

"Hola, señorita!" He said in a thick and cheerful Mexican accent. "I am Panchito Romero Junipero Pistoles III, but you may call me Panchito! Who are you?"

"…Penny…" Penny said, slightly nervous because of his excitedness.

"Ah, Penique!" Panchito said, saying her name in Spanish "A shiny, bright, and beautiful name. Just like you, mi amiga!"

"Uh, you see…" Before Penny could say anything else, the door slammed open, and the teacher came in. He had grey hair the same length as Scrooge's, white pants, yellow shoes, a cream shirt, red lab jacket, black tie, and circular pince-nez glasses. He stood behind his desk, and adjusted his glasses.

"Well, who do we have here?" He said in an Austrian accent, viewing Penny. "Why it's my little niece, Penny!"

"Hi, Uncle Ludwig." Penny said, slightly waving.

"Welcome to my class!" He said, and then pushed a button. Something from the front corner of the room came to the front of the desk. It was a robot designed to look like a little girl. She had grey hair with a purple ponytail with an antenna coming out of hit, and a hair ribbon that looked like a satellite. Her outfit was a purple long sleeve shirt and pants, with yellow buttons and gears on the shirt. Her eyes were solid blue, with no pupils, and she wore black shoes with small wheels in them.

"Tess is ready to serve!" The little robot said, in a young voice with a robot monotone.

"Tess, pass out the papers for the lesson." Ludwig said, pressing a button on the remote control.

"Tess can do that!" Tess said, rapidly passing out papers.

"Now, turn your books to page 15, and you'll be able to fill it in…"

After Chemistry ended (and a lot of strange looking stares from Panchito), Penny headed to her first exploratory class. These classes mixed all of the students together into one class. Her class was PE. She dressed into her gym clothes that the school provided her, and headed to the gym. The teacher was slightly tall and lanky, and wore a white t-shirt and shorts, plus a yellow boater hat on his platinum blond hair. Strangely though, he wore a brown horsecollar on his neck. He pulled Penny aside and introduced himself as Mr. Proudbottan.

"Okay, today's dodgeball day, and you're gonna pick teams." He said, with a Cockney accent. "'Kay, choose away!"

After he said this, the students scrambled to the two sides of the gym. Penny ended up on the far side of the gym, and viewed the members of the team, which mainly consisted of elementary and middle school students.

"You have got to be kidding me." Penny said.

"Don't ya worry." A middle school student said. He had brown hair, a red gym shirt, gold gym pants, and a red marching band hat. He had a Brooklyn accent. "Wit Dylan an' Robin our team, 'dat other team ain't gotta chance!"

"Who are they?" Penny asked.

"I was hopin' you'd ask 'dat." The middle schooler said, and he waved his hand to get them to come over here. One of the boys was a little elementary school student with grey hair, a grey gym shirt, slate gym shorts, a yellow beanbag hat with a black hair attached to it like a feather, and strange boots with an elephant foot design. The other boy was an African-American middle schooler with very dark brown hair. He wore a pink gym shirt and blue gym shorts.

"This is Dylan an' Robin." The middle schooler said, pointing to the boys respectively.

"Hi, I'm Penny." Penny said, waving her hand a little.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." The middle schooler said. "I'm Timothy, an' I'll help ya in any way ya need!"

"Thanks." Penny said, as Mr. Proudbottan blew the whistle to start the game. The game was surprisingly intense. Even though the other half of the gym had the most high schoolers, Penny's team was doing remarkably well by themselves. Until…

"Dylan, look out!" Timothy suddenly called. A dodgeball was heading right towards him!

"Time to fly!" Dylan said, and clicked his heels together. A loud motor sound was heard, and the heels of Dylan's boots blasted out jets of fire, making Dylan whoosh up into the air! Penny was distracted by this sight, when she suddenly heard:

"There ain't no way yous gonna hit my friend!" It was Robin. Penny didn't realize it, but one of the other team had a dodgeball thrown at Penny! Quick as a blue hedgehog, Robin dashed in front of Penny, and grabbed the ball, making the person that threw it get eliminated.

"I've got him now." Penny said, taking the dodgeball from Robin, and throwing. A boing was heard, and then a fall to the ground. The last person was knocked out! Penny and her team had one!

"Game!" Mr. Proudbottan called. "Penny an' 'er team wins!"

Penny's team cheered and Mr. Proudbottan signaled for the students to get changed back into their normal outfits. After they did this, the bell rang, and the next period was about to start. Her next class was Math. She went into the next classroom, and sat between two boys. They were both African-American. One of the boys had long orange hair, and wore a sand-colored t-shirt, a forest green vest, dark green shoes, a sand-colored hat, and a pair of orange shoes. He was tall and slim. The other boy wore a sleeveless blue jacket that was unbuttoned with two white buttons. He didn't have any shirt under the jacket. He also wore brown pants and brown shoes with untied laces, plus a red hat on his dark brown hair, with two ahoge sticking out of it. He was tall, but also chunky. A brown club was leaned against his desk. Penny started sweating, because she felt a little nervous.

"Well, looky who we have here!" The skinny boy said, very rapidly. "Hey, Barney! Take a look at who's gonna be our new math neighbor!"

"Huh?" Barney said, looking like he suddenly snapped out of a daze. "Yer right, Forrest! I think I'm gonna knock 'er head clean off!"

Barney suddenly grabbed his club, and was ready to strike, when someone grabbed the club.

"P-p-p-please, Barney! There will be none of that in the class!" The person that grabbed it was the teacher. He had bright red hair that stuck out of the white bunny hood that he was wearing. He also wore a white t-shirt, red overalls with white buttons and a green patch on the back, yellow gloves, white shoes with pink bottoms, and a blue and yellow polka dotted bowtie. While his accent was American, he had a strange stutter to his voice.

"You won't be doing that to our newest student." He took the club and put it in his desk. "That goes for you too, Forrest."

"Yes, Mr. Rabban…" Forrest and Barney said at the same time, glaring at Penny.

"Well, as you now know Penny, I'm Mr. Rabban." Mr. Rabban said. "I hope you enjoy my class!"

"I just hope I'll be able to survive it!" Penny said, staring at Barney, who was snarling at her.

After the fearful period, Penny went through the rest of her classes without a hitch. She had Lunch, Music, Art, and Study Hall. As the bell rang, Donald and the triplets were waiting outside for Penny, so they could go on the bus together.

"Um, that's okay, you guys." Penny said. "I think I'll walk home, and try to get accustomed to the town."

"Suit yourself." Donald said, as he and the triplets walked up the stairs to the bus. Penny then waited until all the buses and cars (including many strange cars, like a police car, and a circus trailer) to leave.

"Good, they're gone." Penny said to herself. She wasn't really going to get used to the town. She was on a hunt. A hunt for the five boys she saw that morning.


	4. Birds of a Feather

Penny walked the way she remembered the bus going from the morning. She walked a little while, when she saw it. She saw the alleyway. It was the same exact one that the five boys were in that morning. She quietly tiptoed closer, and could hear voices. She very quickly glanced into the alley to see if it was them, and sure enough it was. She very carefully and casually walked to the middle of the entrance of the alleyway to confront them. When she took a step closer, she stepped on a can, making a noise, and making them jerk their heads up.

"We've been caught! Hightail it outta here!" One of the boys said, and the five of them ran the other way out of the alley, with Penny running after them. The swerved on every block and sidewalk, trying to outrun her, but Penny kept following. Finally, they hit a dead end, and Penny finally cornered them, and was able to get a good look at them. The five boys were all African-American with black hair, one of them having longer hair than the others. They all wore black pants and yellow shoes, but they also had different looks to them. One of them, the leader, wore a denim vest with a gold button over a pink and red striped t-shirt, wore pink spats over his shoes, had a brown bowler with red band, and blue feather on his head, and a cigar was in his mouth. The smallest and youngest one wore a red turtleneck sweater, a teal Dixie cup hat, and white rimmed glasses with pink lenses. He was hiding behind the tallest and oldest member, who wore a white t-shirt with a high collar, a grey vest with black buttons, a floppy grey hat, and a pair of rectangular pince-nez glasses. The one with the long hair wore a red and blue striped t-shirt and a yellow straw hat with no top, so it slid down his head. The last one was slightly plump, with a sleeveless red jacket with a blue button, and a blue hat.

"Okay, ya got us! Whatcha gunna do with us?" The leader asked, looking nervous.

"Nothing." Penny said.

"What?" All five of the boys said at the same time.

"I'm not going to do anything to you." Penny said. "I just wanted to meet you."

"Well, why didn't you say so?" The little one said, getting out of his hiding place.

"You guys ran away before I could talk to you guys." Penny said.

"We panicked…" The straw hat wearing one said, pressing his index fingers together.

"So, what are your names?" Penny asked.

"Jim." The leader said.

"Glasses." The little one said.

"Preacher." The tall one said.

"Fat." The plump one said.

"Straw Hat." The straw hat wearing one said.

"Okay, I believe Jim, but those other names? Come on!" Penny said, full of disapproval.

"Fine, it's Perry." Preacher said.

"Glenn." Glasses said.

"Farley." Fat said.

"Stanley." Straw Hat said.

"There, now that wasn't so hard, now was it?" Penny said.

"It was!" Preacher said.

"Why?" Penny asked.

"No one but us, and our parents know our real names!" Fat said.

"Why?" Penny asked again.

"Because…because we don't have any parents…" Jim said, choking up a little.

"Or a home." Glasses added, a few tears streaming down his cheeks, and catching some dirt.

"Or hardly anything to eat." Fat said, rubbing his stomach.

"Or any other clothes." Preacher said, attempting to dust off his clothing, with tons of clouds of dirt coming of, with tons still on them.

"So, you're orphans…" Penny said. "I know how you feel…"

"You do?" Glasses asked, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Yeah." Penny said. "My dad sent me to a boarding school when I was only five. I never got to see my friends and family for ten years. I just came back yesterday. I sorta don't feel like I belong in the family. Or in this town. Or this world even. I-"

Penny's story was interrupted by crying. It was the boys. They were really upset. Penny automatically sympathized them, and gave them a group hug, not caring about getting dirty or cried on.

"Come with me, boys." Penny said, leading them to McDrayke Manor.

"Where are you taking us?" Straw Hat asked, trailing behind the others.

"A special place." Penny said. That's all she said until they arrived. When they did, Penny did her doorbell reverb, and this time, Donald opened the door.

"Penny! What are you doing here with…Jim, Straw Hat, Fat, Glasses, and Preacher?" Donald asked, completely dumbfounded.

"You know these guys?" Penny asked.

"Yeah, but they're vagabonds!" Donald said. "Why are you helping them?"

"Donald, don't you remember that one video with the talking vegetables?" Penny asked, and then started to preach. "Not helping someone that needs help is just as bad as hurting them. And I think these boys need all the help they can get!"

"…You're right Penny." Donald said. "Come on in, boys."

Penny led the boys into the manor, and they stared in awe. They had never seen a place so huge, so clean, so fancy. They felt like it was an honor to even be standing in the foyer. Suddenly, Scrooge came into the room, very quickly.

"Penelope? Well, it's about time that you showed up! I can't believe you-" His conversation was stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the boys.

"Penny?" He asked, trying to hold in his anger.

"Yes?" Penny asked, slightly expecting something bad.

"What are these rapscallions doing in my house!?!?!?!" He suddenly bursted out in rage.

"They are my guests, and they'll be staying over night." Penny said, with a sassy undertone.

"No, they're not!" Scrooge said, with even more anger. "They are below me in society, and I will not stoop so low as to have my house become a boarding house!"

"Well, I will!" Penny shouted. "They're my friends, and I don't want to see them starve in front of me!"

"Brothers, she called us friends!" Jim said, whispering to his other friends in his small group.

"Friends should be in the same class of society as you!" Scrooge said. "That's why I payed Mr. Vazalé to send Maria to your boarding school!"

"Maria knew I was your daughter! I knew she was Mr. Vazalé's daughter! We didn't care! We didn't measure our friendship by money! We measured it by how much we cared for each other! If height was measured by how much we cared for others, you wouldn't be the size of a germ! No, you'd be smaller than an atom! You wouldn't even exist!" Penny ranted.

"Um, how about I show you guys another room of the house?" Donald asked the boys.

"Way ahead of you!" Jim said, and they left the room.

"I didn't raise you to talk back to me!" Scrooge shouted.

"You didn't raise me at all!" Penny cheeked back to him. "You shipped me to the boarding house when I was five! I just made friends with Gyro, Launchpad, and Fenton! Donald was becoming closer to me! What kind of father are you, leaving me to take care of myself in a world where I only have one friend?"

"Not your real father!" Scrooge finally said. "You're adopted! Gyro, Launchpad, and Fenton found you, and forced me to you! I never wanted any part in your life!"

"In that case, I can say something that I'll never say to anything else." Penny said. "I hate you!"

After that, Penny ran out of the room, floods of tears coming out of her eyes as she ran to catch up with the boys. Scrooge was left there. All alone.


	5. The Runaway Plan

"I hate him! I hate him! Did I mention that I hate him?" Penny was ranting to Donald and the orphan boys, who she found out that they call their little group "The Crows". She was the only one in her outfit that she wore from the day, the others being in pajamas.

"You might have mentioned it once or twice." Jim said, who was now wearing a clean pair of boxer shorts and an undershirt, but still smoking his same cigar.

"Or thirty-seven times." Donald added under his breath. He wore a two-piece light blue pajama set, with a t-shirt and long pants. He was using his hat like a pillow.

"So, whatcha gonna do?" Glasses asked. He still wore his glasses, but was now in a pair of footy pajamas.

"I've ruled out freezing yourself and moving away to Peru." Preacher said. He wore his pince-nez glasses, but now also a nightshirt and nightcap. "It's not gonna work."

"Dang, I thought that Peru idea would work." Straw Hat said, wearing his straw hat, but also a two-piece long sleeved pajama set.

"Guys, focus!" Penny said. "I don't want to be in this mansion anymore!"

"Well, I have a contact…" Donald said.

"You do?" Penny asked.

"Yep. My girlfriend." Donald said. "I'll call her, and she'll take care of everything else.

"That's a relief." Penny said.

In a while, Penny packed up her suitcase with everything she came with, and the boys tied bedsheets together to get her and her suitcase down.

"What's this slip of paper for?" Penny called from the ground."

"Donald said you're gonna need it to keep seeing him!" Fat called from the window. He had a large t-shirt and boxer shorts on.

"Penny, just go and head to Daisy's house!" Donald called. "Minnie and Clarabelle will also be there, and they'll help you. Then they'll send you to other people that can help you."

"Thanks, Donald!" Penny called. "You're the best cousin that I've never really had!"

"Same with you, Penny!" Donald called. "Now, you better get going!"

"Bye!" Penny called, and started to run off to Daisy's house.

"Whatcha gonna do when your uncle finds out that Penny's gone?" Jim asked.

"I've got it covered, Jim." Donald said.

Meanwhile, Penny had made it to Daisy's house. She did her doorbell reverb, and Daisy opened the door. She was wearing a purple robe, purple slippers, and her hair was now in curlers.

"Penny, right on time!" Daisy said. "Come in!"

Daisy let Penny in, where Minnie and Clarabelle were already in. Minnie had her hair out of the minibuns, wasn't wearing her bow, and wearing a pink nightgown with white ruffles, and no shoes. Clarabelle had her hair still in a ponytail, except it was held by a blue hair elastic instead of the bow from this morning. She wore an old blue t-shirt and a pair of darker blue sweatpants, with pale blue bunny slippers.

"We're gonna help you, Penny." Minnie said.

"So don't worry your patootie, 'cuz we got a plan!" Clarabelle said, with a Southern twang in her voice starting to stick out.

"How are you guys going to help me?" Penny asked.

"First things first: you got the paper?" Daisy wanted to make sure before she helped her.

"Yeah." Penny took it and gave it to Daisy, who took a stamp and stamped a purple flower on it, then gave it back to Penny. "Now, it's time for our help."

"And that is?" Penny asked.

"MAKEOVER!" Daisy, Minnie, and Clarabelle yelled at the same time, and then started raiding through Penny's suitcase.

"I think I can do something with this school uniform jacket." Minnie said, viewing it.

"I see possibilities for this white undershirt." Clarabelle said, turning it sideways.

"We gotta work on your hair, hun." Daisy said, suddenly sounding like someone working in a hair salon. Quick as a flash, she took a rubber band, and fixed up Penny's ponytail so that it was still there, but there was also a lot of hair hanging out. She then took another three rubber bands and divided the ponytail into three sections. She dyed one section dark green, another section dark red, and the final section dark blue. After letting the dye set, Daisy rinsed it off, and used lighter versions of the dye to do the same treatment to the bow tie being used for Penny's bow. After fixing up the bow and fixing it onto Penny's hair, with the undyed hair still hanging out, Clarabelle and Penny put on their creations onto Penny. Her undershirt was now a t-shirt with a red, blue, and green "3" on it. The school uniform jacket was now a normal jacket, with blue and green strings coming out of it.

"We did well, girls." Daisy said, admiring their work.

"I still see some need of improvement on the pants and shoes, though." Clarabelle said.

"Meh, I'll just do a clothing trade with her." Daisy said, walking to her room, and then coming back with a pair of light blue jeans with green and red trimming on the bottom, and a pair of yellow tennis shoes. In about a minute, Penny changed out of the suit pants and penny loafers, and changed into the outfit that Daisy provided.

"Thanks, you guys." Penny said, giving them a group hug. "Now my uncle won't recognize me."

"No problem." Daisy said.

"It's the least we can do fer ya'll." Clarabelle said, her Southern accent kicking in again.

"I called the next contact." Minnie said. "It's a few doors down. When you see the house with a police car in the driveway, you know you're there."

"Thanks, you guys!" Penny said, bidding goodbye to her friends, and walking down the sidewalk, her suitcase and the piece of paper in tow. When she reached the house, she was about to ring the doorbell, when she heard video game shooting in the house.

"Wow. They must be hardcore police officers to be using a shooting simulator in their own house." Penny said to herself, until suddenly…

"FALCON…PUNCH!"

"Okay, nevermind." Penny said, and rang the doorbell with her reverb.

"All right, ya mugs, slow down!" A New York accented voice said. "I'm gettin' it!"

After a few seconds of sounds of unlocking of door locks, the door finally opened. In the doorway was a young adult with brown hair. He wore a pink double-breasted zoot suit with gold buttons, a gold chain in the pocket, a white collared undershirt with a magenta tie, matching pink zoot pants, brown shoes with white spats, and a pink fedora with a magenta hatband. He eyed Penny up and down, and then finally started talking.

"Ya got 'da paper?" He asked, and Penny nodded. He then stepped aside, and let Penny in. Six other people were in there, one high school boy, one middle school boy, and four more young adults. The high schooler had brown hair, a larger build, and wore a blue and white striped t-shirt, brown pants, a red beanie with a yellow propeller, and untied blue and white tennis shoes on his feet, which was in a pigeon-toed stance. The middle schooler had spiky brown hair, light blue pupils with yellow swirls in them, and wore an unbuckled Canadian Long straightjacket, and white asylum pants, plus brown shoes, and a large grin was plastered on his face, showing a fang as one of his teeth. One of the adults was Hispanic, with long and greasy black hair, plus a fang that slightly stuck out of his mouth. He wore a lime green zoot suit, with the pants hiked up almost to his chest, which slightly covered his white collared shirt and pink tie under his jacket. He also sported a green fedora with a darker green hatband and a pair of black and white spectator shoes. Another of the adults had abnormally pale skin, long slate-colored hair, and had two cigarettes in his mouth at the same time. He wore a white and wrinkled long sleeve dress shirt, a black vest, slate pants, slate shoes, and a grey bowler with a black hatband that had more cigarettes stuffed into it. One of the other adults looked like a greaser, complete with tight black jeans, a white t-shirt, white tennis shoes, black leather jacket, and hair slicked up to look like Elvis Presley. The only odd thing was that his nose was dripping with snot, nothing like another gangster. The last adult had short brown hair, and wore a mustard baseball cap sideways, red and white, yet dirty tennis shoes, and a dirty trenchcoat, with nothing else under it.

"I would like ya to meet my crude." The pink zoot suited one said, committing a malapropism.

"Hola, señorita, I am Gomez, but you may call me Greasy, comprende?" the green zoot suited one said in a Mexican accent, and slightly sliding his hat over his eyes.

"Hi!!!!" the middle schooler shrieked in a high pitched voice. "I'm Princeton!!!! Call me Psycho!!!!"

"Um…uh…er…" The high schooler muttered, as if trying to remember something.

"STUPID!" All of the other members of the police squad yelled at him.

"That's my name!" He said. "Or is it Steve?"

"It's both…" Greasy said, putting his hand over his forehead.

"I guess stupid is what stupid does." Penny said, while Psycho high-fived her for the remark.

"Sure go on and forget me!" The smoking adult wheezed, think broke into a coughing fit. "I'm Walter, call me Wheezy." He said between breaths.

"Is hey okay?" Penny asked, sounding concerned.

"Nah, he does 'dat all 'da time." The trenchcoatted one said in a slight Midwest accent. "I'm Ford, but ya can call me Flasher. Ya wanna know why 'dey calls me 'dat?

"I'd rather not." Penny said.

"Good choice." The greaser-looking adult said, his voice sounding congested. "I'm Sylvester, but please call me Sli-Sli-Sli-"

"Oh, man!" Psycho said, hiding behind the couch.

"Ay, carumba!" Greasy said. "He's gonna blow!"

Quick as a flash, all of the others took cover, and Wheezy grabbed Penny to a safer place before it was too late. And then…

"ACHOO!" He sneezed, sending a small pile of snot onto the floor. "I-I'm Slimy."

"I can see that…" Penny said, looking at the pile with a disgusted face.

"And I'm Stuart, but call me Smarty." The pink zoot suited one said. "Now, lemme see the paper.

Penny gave him the paper, and he stamped it with a gold colored police badge.

"Okay boys, let hack her up!" Smarty said, committing another malapropism.

Wheezy grabbed something, and tossed it to Flasher, who put it in a casing, and tossed to Penny. It was an orange and white ID case on a string, which she put around her neck.

"What does this do for me?" Penny asked.

"Now you are 99.99999999999 percent protected by the Toonopia Patrol!" Psycho said, giving a thumbs up through his extra long sleeve.

"What about the other 0.00000000001 percent?" Penny asked.

"We like video games." Psycho simply said, while Smarty gave her back the paper.

"Now, you gotta go to 'da house across 'da street, an' 'den make a right." Smarty said, giving directions.

"Will do, sarge." Penny said, giving a small salute, and leaving.

"If ya hear rock music, ya know yer 'dere!" Flasher called out, as she walked across the street.

Little to Penny, or the Toonopia Patrol's knowledge, four boys were spying on everything they did. Two of them were Kahn and Barney. Another one of them had hair the same length as José's but a darker green. He wore a Medieval-like outfit, with dark green puffy sleeves, a mustard body, mustard and dark green pants, mustard shoes, a red cape with a maroon brooch, and a red and orange hat with a large blue plume in it. He also had a gap in his tooth. The other boy was a chibi, with large black eyes, hands simplified to circles, and no arms, making his hands just float in midair. He wore a black jacket (that looked like a vest in his case), a grey collared shirt with a solitary yellow button on it, black pants, yellow shoes, and a grey fedora with a black hatband on his black hair. The four of them were hiding behind trash cans, and listening onto the conversation.

"Ssssso, Penny'ssss running away…" Kahn said. "Boy, I ssssure can't wait to tell Shane about thissss!"

"Duh, not if I tell Forrest about it first!" Barney said.

"No, It sssshall be I to be doing the telling!" the regally dressed one said, in a British accent with a hiss. "The mayor will not want to misssss out on hearing thissss!"

"Yeah right, Sir Harlan!" The chibi said. "When I tell Magica the goods, she'll take care of it then and there!"

"No way, Poe!" Sir Harlan said.

"Yes way." Poe nonchalantly said.

"Let'ssss make a bet." Kahn said. "We'll compete to ssssee who tellssss who'ssss bossss first!"

"Deal!" Sir Harlan, Poe, and Barney said at the same time, and the four of them put their hands in the center, and flung them out, then went their separate ways. Little known to the spies, someone was spying on them! He wore a brown trenchcoat and fedora, but no visible features could be seen, due to the fact that the shadows of the alleyway he was in was covering him. He talked into a walkie talkie to someone.

"Boss, McDrayke's daughter is here." He said, with a voice that sounded like it was underwater. "Now what?"

"Come back to the headquarters. We'll be paying Little Miss Richie Rich a little unexpected visit later." A voice of pure evil said through the walkie talkie.

"Will do sir." The spy said, as the trenchcoat and fedora suddenly dropped, and the creature slipped through a storm drain, as if he was a liquid…


	6. Vultures and Ravens

Penny followed the directions (and her ears), and easily found the right house. Sure enough, she found the house with the rock music coming out of it. Oddly enough, the music sounded a little old, like 60s rock. She did her doorbell reverb, and the music stopped, which allowed her to hear someone talking.

"Hold up boys, I'll get it!" It was a Liverpudilan accent, and one that sounded familiar. Sure enough, as soon as the door opened, Fletcher was on the other side of it, with a smile appeared on his face, and holding a black left-handed guitar. "Penny! Ya made it!"

"Hi, Fletcher!" Penny said, as she was let in. In the house were five boys that wore the same outfit as he wore (but the youngest one had his jacket sleeves rolled up to his elbows). The only difference was their height and hair. One of them was short for his age, with pink hair, and a blue right-handed guitar. Another one was about the same height as Fletcher, and had brown hair that was slightly longer than Fletcher's, and stuck out a little more. He carried a tan left-handed guitar. The drummer was tall and skinny, with long grey hair that was in his face, completely obscuring his eyes. The youngest one was almost completely adorable beyond belief, with orange hair that had two large antenna-like ahoge sticking out of the top. The only thing that really sort of shrouded his cuteness was the scar under his left eye. He stood on a stool, so he could reach his purple keyboard.

"Boys, roll call!" Fletcher said.

"Hey, hey, hey!" The pink haired one abruptly said, with a Liverpudilan accent that sounded like John Lennon's. "I'm the leader, I call the shots!"

"Yes sir, Brenton, sir." Fletcher sarcastically said, giving a mock salute.

"An' don't ya forget it!" Brenton said, sticking his thumbs under his armpits, while Penny winced a little.

"Hey, I'm Ziggy!" The brown haired one said, with an accent that sounded like a mix of Paul McCartney and David Bowie.

"Hey. I'm Dawson." The grey haired one said in a bored monotone, in a voice that could easily be mistaken for Ringo Starr's

"An' I'm Luther!" The youngest one said, in a Liverpudilan accent that was almost too cute to resist. "Fletcher's my big bruther!"

"We heard you needed some help, an' we're here to help!" Ziggy said.

"But ya gotta have the paper first." Brenton said, holding out his hand.

"Sure." Penny said, giving him the paper, who stamped a brown music note onto the paper, then gave it back to her.

"Say, ya wanna hear a song?" Fletcher asked.

"Sure!" Penny said, sitting down, as the boys got into place."

"All right boys, just like we rehearsed." Brenton said, as Ziggy took off his guitar, and took a saxophone out instead. "It's Vulturemania time!"

Luther banged out a piano rift, and the song started, with Brenton singing first:

"Lady Madonna,  
Children at your feet  
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet.

Who finds the money  
When you pay the rent?  
Did you think that money was heaven-sent?"

It was then Fletcher's turn to have a chance:

"Friday night arrives without a suitcase.  
Sunday morning creeping like a nun.  
Monday's child has learned to tie his bootlace."

"See how they run." They all sang in unison, then Dawson broke out of his shyness to have a turn:

"Lady Madonna,  
Baby at your breast  
Wonders how you manage to feed the rest."

Ziggy soon started to jam out on his sax for a while, then they all sang again:

"See how they run."

Ziggy was now ready for his chance at singing.

"Lady Madonna,  
Lying on the bed.  
Listen to the music playing in your head.

Tuesday afternoon is never ending.  
Wednesday morning papers didn't come.  
Thursday night your stockings needed mending."

For their final time in the song, they all sang in unison one last time:

"See how they run."

For the final verse, Luther got a chance to sing by himself:

"Lady Madonna,  
Children at your feet  
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet."

The song ended with some instrumental, and then Penny gave as much applause as she could, giving them a standing ovation.

"Wonderful! Delightful! Oh, bravo!" Penny said, cheering as much as she could.

"Thank you, thank you!" Ziggy said. "For my next song, I shall be singing Ziggy Stardust! Oh, Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with Weird and Gilly

! An' the spiders from Mars, he played it left-"

"Come off it, Ziggy!" Brenton yelled to him, cutting him short.

"You don't have taste in music!" Ziggy said.

"What? Ever since you joined that David Bowie fan club-" Brenton yelled out.

"Leave Mr. Bowie out of this! Ziggy said, shoving Brenton.

"You don't shove the leader!" Brenton said, shoving Ziggy back.

"An' you don't shove the bassist!" Ziggy said, shoving Brenton again.

"Fight! Fight!" Luther said, cheering them on.

"No, let's not fight." Fletcher said.

"We're gonna fight!" Brenton said, shoving Ziggy yet again. Pretty soon, an all-out shove fest was going on between Ziggy and Brenton, with Luther and Dawson cheering them on, and Fletcher hiding behind the sofa.

"Um, guys? Guys?" Penny said, trying to get them to calm down, then got fed up, and finally yelled. "CORPORATE ROCK STILL SUCKS!!!!"

"Okay, okay, Little Miss Nirvana!" Brenton said. "Calm down!"

"Um, don't we have something for her?" Ziggy asked, completely forgetting about the fight.

"Right! Right! Completely right!" Brenton said, and he ran to a closet, only to come back with a guitar case. He opened it, and took out a purple guitar, then gave it to Penny.

"W-what is this?" Penny asked in awe.

"Milady, your axe." Brenton said, as Penny played a G scale.

"At least you know how to play it." Ziggy cheekily said, as Luther grabbed one of Dawson's drumsticks and threw it at him, which he dodged, and a crash was heard.

"That was mum's vase…" Fletcher said, putting a hand on his forehead.

"Er, anyways…Play your heart out when you need it!" Brenton said.

"Will do!" Penny said, as she put the guitar back in his case.

"The next contact's called." Dawson said. "It's the dark green trailer at the trailer park."

"Got it! See you guys later!" Penny said, as she walked to the trailer park, which was a couple blocks away. Thankfully, the street lights were on, making it easy to see the dark green color of the trailer park. Seeing that there was no doorbell, Penny did her reverb on the metal door.

"I got it! I got it!" A voice was heard in the house that sounded slightly the same in tone as a three foot tall hyperkinetic rabbit thingy.

"No, I got it." Another voice said, opening the door. Inside it was an African-American girl a few years older than Penny. She had short, but slightly choppy black hair. She wore a yellow and green diagonally striped sleeveless shirt, a denim vest, a denim miniskirt, forest green newsboy cap, and light blue high heels. She had a small lollipop in her mouth, and took it out as she spoke. "You're Penny, right?"

"Yes." Penny said, nodding.

"Come in, come in!" She said, stepping aside. "Sisters, Penny's here!"

The other girls inside the trailer were also African-American, all with black hair. The youngest one had her hair in two ponytails, a long sleeve pink shirt, with darker pink raglan sleeves, dark blue shorts, light pink goggles with aqua lenses, yellow shoes, and a pink Dixie cup hat with a pink decorative button on the top. Another one of the girls had a ponytail with a topless red and purple baseball cap on, and a few stray hairs sticking out. She wore an orange basketball jersey with a red "5" on it, a pink t-shirt under it, black jeans, pink tennis shoes, and an orange bandage on her right cheek. The tallest girl wore a tan sweater vest and skirt, with a high collared white t-shirt under the vest. She also wore tan penny loafers with loose socks, and circular pince-nez glasses. She wore a tan sunhat with a navy band on top of her long hair. The final girl was in the middle of the ages, with a slightly large build, with a green polo t-shirt, a long denim skirt, and yellow shoes. Her hair was in a ponytail, with a grey fedora.

"I'm Jane, and Penny, please meet my friends!" The sucker-eating girl said, with the sucker in her mouth this time.

"I'm Gwen, but you can call me Goggles!" The youngest one said.

"Yo! I'm Pamela, call me Paunchy!" The middle aged girl said.

"I'm Beatrice, but you're gonna call me Baseball Cap." The girl that was wearing half of a baseball cap said, with sass in her voice. "You got a problem with that?"

"Never mind her." The oldest one said. "I'm Samantha, but you can call me Schoolgirl. I mean, if you want to…"

"Okay." Penny said.

"So, ya gonna give us the paper, or do I have to pry it offa ya? Baseball Cap said, sounding demanding.

"Y-yeah, I got it." Penny nervously said, choosing to give it to Jane instead of Baseball Cap, who stamped a dark purple feather onto the paper, and then gave it back to her.

"So, let's give her the goods!" Baseball Cap said, punching her hand threateningly.

"You're not a gangster, so stop acting like one, you little brat!" Schoolgirl said, finally snapping.

"No one's called me a brat in a long time!" Baseball Cap said, looking slightly cheeky. "Who are you, my mother?"

"In a word, sorta." Schoolgirl said. "You do remember we're orphans, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Baseball Cap said, nonchalantly waving her hand.

"You know, you guys really remind me of some boys I met." Penny said.

"We know." Paunchy said. "They told us to tell you thank you."

"For what?" Penny said.

"You're one of the few outsiders that helped them." Goggles said. "People normally avoid them."

Jane then placed a purple cell phone with a golden "P" sticker on it into Penny's hands.

"Wha?" Penny said, a loss with words.

"Okay, it's out of date." Jane said. "But you'll need it."

"It's got speed dial on some important numbers." Schoolgirl added.

"You've got Toonopia Patrol, us, and our boyfriends." Paunchy said.

"Okay, thanks you guys!" Penny said.

"Got the next contact down." Baseball Cap said. "It's pretty risky getting there, but I think you'll be able to make it."

"You'll find the house in the middle of the park." Goggles said.

"Okay." Penny said, as she left.

"She ain't gonna make it." Baseball Cap said between her teeth, as Schoolgirl jabbed her in the side with her elbow.

Penny walked a long ways, and she stopped by an alleyway. The street lights were a little dimmer, so she had to squint to see. Suddenly, she heard a strange sound. It sounded like wood hitting concrete. At least, it sounded like that, until it sounded like someone fell. Penny quickly turned around, and behind her was a boy about the same age as her. The whites of his eyes were yellow, with red at the very bottom. He had unevenly cut slate hair, with a black flat cap on it. He wore a sleeveless blue sweater, a blue and green scarf, and black pants. He wore a grey shoe on his left foot, since his right one was replaced with a wooden peg leg. His right arm was also in a slate colored cast, and a solitary fang stuck out of his top lip.

"I know you!" Penny said, as the boy pulled himself up. "You're Fidget! My cousin told me all about you! You're the henchman of that evil Professor!"

"T-that was a long time ago!" Fidget said, in a high, raspy voice with a British-American accent. "Anyways, you gotta get out of here!"

"Why should I trust you?" Penny asked.

"Just do it!" Fidget said, then ran as fast as a person with a peg leg could, stumbling a little.

"What was that for?" Penny asked, continuing down the road, and getting hammered by something, knocking her out cold.

"You got 'er, Barney! Nice one!" A familiar male African-American voice said.

"Duh, I did?" Another familiar male African-American voice said.

"Yep, I'll just grab 'er, and-" His talking was interrupted by the sound of a police siren.

"Wh-what's that?" The second voice asked.

"AHH! THE POPO! I can't do another nickel!" The first voice said, and the sound of running was heard.

"Ha! 'Dat police siren gets 'em all 'da time!" An unfamiliar male New York accent said.

"True, eet eez how you say, a good diversion!" An unfamiliar female French accent said.

"Holy crapola!" A new female New York accent said. "It's a goil!"

"She's out cold!" The French accent said.

"We gotta get 'er to 'da house!" The male New Yorker said.

Penny felt her arms and legs get lifted up, and heard the wheeling of her suitcase. That's all she could remember. At least, until the next morning…


	7. This is Madness!

Penny slowly woke up from the pain, and was surprised to find herself inside a house. She was lying on a couch, with a pillow and a blanket. Her jacket, shoes, pass, and glasses were off of her, and her hair was down. The sun was shining from a window, and the smell of food was in the air. She smiled, and slowly drifted back to catch a little more sleep, when:

"U.G.L.Y, You ain't got no alibi, You ugly! Hey! Hey! You ugly!" It was the sound of a loud, not to mention annoying stereo from upstairs.

"Carter, turn that junk off!" An unfamiliar male British accent yelled at him.

"Eh, you don't know music!" The male New York accent from last night called back.

"Your music, is how you say, crap!" The female French accent called to him.

"You guys know nothing!" The New York accent called back.

"We know a lot!" Another male British accent said, though his sounded more like it was from the East end.

"Guys, you'll wake up the girl!" The female New York accent yelled to them.

"Too bad, you already did." Penny called to all of them, and they stayed quiet for a little while.

"Carter's fault, not mine!" The female New York accent yelled out.

"I'll get you for that later." The male New York accent called out, and a young adult slid down the stair banister. He wore a long-sleeved cream-colored long sleeve shirt with thin green horizontal stripes, brown pants, red suspenders, maroon shoes, and a green flat cap on his long, yet slightly jutting out hair. He also had a cigar clamped in his mouth. He must have been the Carter that the others were talking about.

"You're Carter, right?" Penny asked.

"The one an' only!" He said, extending his suspenders with his thumbs. "Commodore Carter, that's what they call me!"

"No they don't!" The East end accent said. It belonged to a high schooler that looked like he was in his last year of it, with droopy brown hair, a white polo shirt with a red bowtie, mauve pants, taupe shoes, and sunglasses that moved with his emotion. He stumbled a little, due to the fact that he was blind, and using the railing as a guide. "You're a liar, an' ya know it!"

"Ah, shut it, Edwin!" Carter said, taking his cigar out of his mouth for a moment, and then putting it back in.

"Why don't you, as you say, shut it!" The French accent from last night said. She was a Japanese young adult, with black hair in a flip, a blue beret, blue scarf, black-and-white checked sleeveless dress, black knee-high boots, black elbow length gloves, and a small black pack that was attached on her dress. She had heterochromia, one of her eyes being yellow, the other being blue. She also had black eyeshadow, black lipstick, and a small fang.

"Stay out of this, Sabrina!" Carter said, through gritted teeth.

"Mmm…no!" Sabrina said.

"Yes!" Carter shot back.

"No!" Sabrina said, obviously happy that she was winning the fight.

"Yes!" Carter shot back again.

"Why don't you both stop?" The first male British accent said, as he walked down the stairs. He was a young adult, though a little older than the others. He wore tan pants, tan shoes, a black coat with tails that looked like it had seen better days, a monocle, and a black top hat with a white band on his bright green hair, which had two long hairs sticking out from under. He also carried a black cane, but it looked more like a walking stick or a tap dancing stick.

"Oh, joy." Carter said, his voice filled to the brim with sarcasm. "Godfrey's here to intervene."

"Yes, I am!" Godfrey said, pointing his cane at Carter, just a few inches from his face, only to have another hand lower it. It belonged to a female young adult. She wore a black dress with white polka dots, a red hat on her flipped out black hair, and carried a small red pocket book.

"Now, let's not do this." She said, in a soft British accent.

"Great, now Lydia's gonna stop the brawl!" Carter said, even more annoyed. "Who else will be there to stop it?"

"How's about me?" The female New York accent said. A high schooler a little older than Penny then came downstairs, wearing a short-sleeved green jumpsuit with a red lightning bolt, dark red boots, a white cape with blue trimming and red stars, short yellow gloves, and a white crash helmet with red and blue petals on the top, over her orange-red colored hair, which stuck out in a slightly choppy fashion from under.

"An' now Birdie's here!" Edwin said, unlike Carter, he was happier about it. "That leaves…"

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" A very soft female British accent said, walking down the stairs. It was coming from a young adult, but she was the oldest out of all of them. She had platinum blonde hair that stuck out from an intricate headband, and wore a light blue dress with a slightly darker blue shawl with a silver brooch on it. She also wore blue slide-on shoes, and had a blue lantern dangling from one of her arms, while she carried a pair of opera glasses in the other hand.

"…Gloria!" The rest of the house's boarders said at the same time. (Carter being the only one that was upset about it).

"What?" Gloria asked, cupping a hand over one of her ears. "I can't hear you!"

"Not this again…" Carter said, pressing a hand to his forehead.

"So, are you guys the ones that I was supposed to see? You know, for the paper." Penny asked, pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

"Oh, right, that." Birdie said, pulling off her crash helmet, and pulling out the paper, folding it into a paper airplane, and having it land on Penny's lap. After unfolding it, there was a light pink peach stamp now on it.

"Come on, kid." Carter said, urging her to follow him, as Godfrey pulled out a chair in the kitchen table for her to sit, and Lydia gave her a plate of eggs and bacon, while the others sat down to their own plates.

"Y'know," Birdie said, her mouth half full, and swallowed. "Ya got guts, girl."

"What do you mean?" Penny asked, mixing up her eggs a little with her fork.

"You're like us." Sabrina said. "You're a, how you say, brave hero for going through theez hard times."

"This traveling around you're doing is amazing." Lydia said.

"But, we still thought you could use a little something else." Godfrey added.

"What?" Penny asked, utterly confused.

"The flashlight." The others (except for Gloria) said in unison, slightly annoyed.

"Oh." Penny said, fingering the new flashlight that was strung right next to her pass. "Sorry, I was busy thinking."

"About what?" Edwin asked, fearing the worst.

"Well, won't my dad notice that I'm gone?" Penny wondered. "I just hope that Donald though of something…"

Meanwhile, back at McDrayke Manor, Donald and The Crows were working on something. They had an oddly-shaped piece of cardboard, and Glasses was drawing a picture on it with crayons. After the finishing touches, they viewed their work. It was a crudely-drawn picture of Penny with her aqua hair and schoolgirl outfit, with the cardboard bended at the neck slightly, and a string attached to the back of it.

"This isn't going to work." Donald said, entirely doubting the whole thing.

"Don't knock it 'til we try it!" Jim said, as Scrooge walked into the room, and the boys tried to look as casual as they could, with Donald holding onto string, but trying to hide it.

"Hello, Donald. Degenerates." Scrooge said, as he walked past them, but stopped and sidetracked when he noticed Cardboard Penny. "Penny, are you okay? You seem a bit thin... and your neck looks wrinkled."

"Uh... Y-Yeah! I lost a lot of weight!" Donald said in a high-pitched voice, while trying to hide his mouth movements, and moving the string while he talked, yet still trying to hide it.

"Okay…carry on with…whatever it is that you're doing…" Scrooge said, as he walked to where he was going, yet peering over his shoulder every so often. When he left, the boys let out a sigh of relief.

"I think we walked right past that one, brothers." Preacher said, and the others nodded in agreement.

Back at the house that Penny was staying at for breakfast, Penny had fully dressed, and put her note in a safe place. She was directed to head into the woods for her next helper. When she turned around to take a look at the house, it strangely looked like a peach pit. Putting that behind her, she walked over to the woods. She found a sign on a tree that said "TULGEY WOODS: Enter at your own risk". Disregarding the sign, she walked into the woods. It completely shrouded out any sunlight, so she clipped off her new flashlight from her pass, and shone it. It let out an odd green light, yet one that let her see nonetheless. She went pretty far into the woods in utter silence, (save for the few panicked breaths when she heard a strange rustling in the trees) until she heard a faint voice singing, that seemed to get louder as she followed it.

"'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;  
All mimsy were the borogoves,  
And the mome raths outgrabe."

Penny soon looked up to see a boy that was about the same age as her. He had pink and purple-striped hair in a ponytail, and wore a purple long sleeved shirt with a magenta t-shirt over it, plus purple and magenta-striped pants, maroon shoes, and the whites of his eyes were a pale yellow. The strangest part about him was that he was actually materializing before Penny's very eyes!

"Oh, Chester." Penny said, with a sigh of relief. "It's just you." Penny had remembered meeting Chester in her Art Class yesterday. He thought it would be funny to put brown paint in the teacher's coffee when her back was turned. It was funny at first, but a week's worth of detention automatically makes everything unfunny. Thankfully for him, it was the weekend.

"Who'd you expect?" Chester said, pulling himself in a sitting position on the branch that he was laying on, letting his feet dangle in the air. "Kahn, perhaps?"

"Don't talk about him." Penny said, a flash of anger leaping into her voice for a brief moment. "So, I'm supposed to see you about the paper, am I?"

"Who, me?" Chester asked, feigning shock, and then started to laugh, but it sounded a little like a cackle. "Oh, no. I'm no the one you want to see."

"What do you mean?" Penny asked, completely confused.

"I'm only supposed to tell you to go that-a-way, until you find the old swimming pool, and go into the locker rooms." Chester said, pointing in the direction he wanted her to go. "You have to do the rest of the work." He then started to vanish, but quickly paused where his was

"What is it now?" Penny asked, a bit of annoyance creeping through her voice.

"I just wanted to warn you about something," Chester added, now vanished to the point that only his eyes and mouth (which was grinning broadly, with his teeth gleaming compared to the darkness) "Beware of hitchhiking ghosts!" With that, he completely disappeared, cackling madly.

"Boy, is he mad." Penny said to herself, still staring at the branch that Chester was once on. "And what is he talking about with 'hitchhiking ghosts'?" Penny tried to dismiss the information, and walked in the direction that Chester pointed, unbeknownst to her about the surprise that she was going to get…


	8. Spooks and Swamps

Penny kept walking in the direction that Chester had told her to go to, feeling a slight foreboding feeling when she found the abandoned swimming pool. Abandoned was right! No one in their right mind would want to swim in it! It was filled with a septic tank-green muddy water mix. A snapped rope was dangling on either side of the pool, and were those CROCODILE jaws snapping up every so often!?!?!?

"Chester, you've got a sick mind to send me here." Penny said to herself, cringing at the sights and smells. She finally arrived to the locker rooms, which were in no better shape than the pool. On the door was a sign made of splintery wood, and dangling from an unfurling rope. Written in a thick-tipped black marker was "WELCOME! Please come in, but leave your body and soul at the door! (Kidding! Or are we…?)" Penny cautiously opened the door, and a green gas came out, along with a few cockroaches, a couple spiders, and a raven with eyes that glowed bright red. Penny tried to shrug it off, and walked into the locker room. It was pretty crappy looking, to say the least, but not at all scary, so Penny decided to find a way to tell herself not to worry about it.

"I'm not scared yet." She said to herself. "Let's see…how about that drippy towel over there? That's scary, right?" It still wasn't psyching herself into the braveness, so she went for a more sarcastic method. "Oh no, please don't drip on me! You smell like shin guards!" That didn't work either. "Well, this is just great! I might as well give up and go back-"

As she turned, she was suddenly face to face with three men. One of them was emaciated to skeletal proportions, with no hair, a jaunty bowler derby, and a ratty-looking suit with a large bowtie right under his neck. One was slightly stocky and chubby, with slouching shoulders, a shabby coat held by a single button, and a battered top hat on top of slightly long and messy hair. He was holding a large, yet old carpetbag. The last one was about only three feet tall. He wore a shabby and hole-ridden t-shirt, had a beard that almost went to his knees, with long and messy hair to go with it. A shackle was attacked to his ankle, with a ball and chain attached to it. The most shocking thing about all three of them that everything about them was colored either blue, grey, or white, and they were transparent, meaning only one thing: they were ghosts! Penny screamed. They screamed. Penny screamed some more. They screamed some more. (Aren't first impressions great?)

"P-please! Take what you want! J-just don't hurt me! I've got a low threshold for pain!" Penny was able to scream out, while backing up against a locker, until she couldn't anymore, ending up sitting on the floor.

"Easy! Easy!" The skinny ghost said, offering his hand out to help. "We're not gonna hurt you!"

"You're not?" Penny asked, taking his hand. "Then why were you screaming at me?"

"Hey, you screamed first." The plump ghost said, as Penny dusted herself off.

"Sure, whatever." Penny said. "So, are you the guys that I'm supposed to see?"

"I don't see anyone else." The skinny ghost joked.

"Right…" Penny said, sounding unimpressed.

"I'm Phineas," The plump ghost introduced himself, and then pointed a thumb over to the skinny ghost. "This is Ezra, my business partner and half-brother." He pointed down to the smaller ghost, who stuck his tongue out at Penny. "And this is Gus. He's not much of a people person."

To show this, Gus picked up his ball and chain, and tried to throw it at Penny, only for it to be grabbed by Ezra and Phineas, who struggled with the weight more than their diminutive friend.

"Yep, so that was the scariest thing I've ever seen." Penny said, clutching onto her chest, and breathing heavier.

"So…" Ezra said, trailing off a little (and his view looking like it was slightly slipping to Penny's chest, which she indignantly covered up). "…You have the paper?"

"…Yeah…" Penny said, giving him the paper, yet sounding a little afraid and offended. Gus, noticing the tone in her voice, nonchalantly dropped his ball and chain onto Ezra's foot, who ended up biting his lip to keep from screaming. Phineas, trying to stifle a giggle, dug through his carpetbag, and grabbed a stamp. He stamped the paper with a blue ghost that looked like it belonged in a video game with a cheese wheel that had a chunk missing from it. After stamping it, and giving it back to Penny, he dug in his carpetbag again, and pulled out what looked like a dog whistle, and gave it to Penny.

"This whistle signals Fonzie." Phineas explained.

"Yeah, okay. Who's Fonzie?" Penny asked.

"Just blow the whistle and see." Phineas said. Penny did so, and the same raven with the glowing red eyes landed on her shoulder. She jumped a little, but then she noticed that Fonzie was cuddling against her, making a sound that almost sounded like a cat's purr.

"Fonzie's from the mansion that we live at." Phineas said. "He's the mansion's familiar, and he'll help you if you blow the whistle."

"Thanks!" Penny said, letting Fonzie perch on her finger, as she transferred him to Phineas.

Penny walked out of the locker room, and towards the lighter side of the woods.

"Bye!" A voice said behind her. It didn't sound like Ezra's or Phineas's voice. Shrugging it off, she kept on walking, until a faint noise caught her ears:

"You're gonna be a shining star, fancy clothes, fancy car-ars.  
And then you'll see, you're gonna go far.  
Cause everyone knows, who you are-are…"

The sound was coming from the cell phone that the Ravens had given her. She grabbed it, and opened it, while talking to herself.

"Not the ringtone I would've chosen…" She said, and pressed the talk button. "Hello?"

"Hi, Penny!" Donald's voice said from the other side.

"Hey, Donald." Penny said, feeling relief to hear a voice that she hadn't just met.

"So, how's the hunt going?

"I just got the stamp from the ghosts."

"That's great!"

"Yeah, but they didn't tell me where to go next."

"Oh, just keep heading to the light part of the woods, until you reach a small clubhouse."

"Thanks, Donald." Penny said. "By the way, how did you get Dad from finding I was gone?"

"Oh, the Crows and I whipped up a cardboard version of you."

"…Donald, in the words of one of the greatest scientists besides Gyro and Uncle Ludwig, 'you can't build a masterpiece out of crap'! Bye."

Penny hung up, walking through the woods the rest of the way, until she reached the clubhouse. It was a small one made out of unpainted wood. There was a swamp behind it, and a strange large rock with multiple craters in it was half-submerged in the middle of it. Penny did the knock version of her reverb, and she heard the sound of a few different kinds of locks unlocking. The door finally creaked open, and Robin was inside it. Instead of the gym clothes Penny saw him in that day; he was now wearing a pink long-sleeved collared shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, blue jeans, and brown dress shoes with black laces.

"You made it! Come in!" He happily said, then called inside. "Guys, she's here!"

A light suddenly turned on, and 8 people were inside. Three of them were African-American, while the rest were Caucasian. One of the African-Americans was a male young adult, with slightly long green hair, and wearing a green t-shirt with khaki pants, a brown jacket with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a straw hat, and green fishing boots. He was leaning against the wall, looking a little bored.

The next African-American was a middle schooler that looked the same age as Robin. She had bleached blonde hair in two long ponytails, with a purple ribbon in her hair. She wore a purple dress with puffy sleeves, lighter purple bloomers, and light yellow Mary Jane shoes.

The last of the three African-Americans was a little elementary school girl. She wore a light blue bow in her hair, which was a dark blonde with black cat-stripe highlights, and was pulled into two small ponytails. She also wore a purple dress with puffy sleeves, though it was lighter, had a light blue collar, and she wore pale pink bloomers, and bright yellow Mary Janes.

One of the two Caucasian males, had a slight tan to his skin, and was a middle schooler, though he looked tall enough to be a high schooler. He wore a yellow raincoat, light green pants, red tennis shoes, and a blue baseball cap on his short green hair.

The other Caucasian male was also a middle schooler, though he was a little shorter than Robin. He wore a green top hat on his short dark blue hair, a blue polo shirt, darker blue pants, and yellow dress shoes. He was holding onto a cane, and leaning on it.

The oldest of the Caucasian girls was a young adult. She had green hair with black highlights that was worn in a bun, with a few tendrils of hair hanging down. She wore a long sleeved maroon blouse with a red and gold brooch on the front under the collar. She also wore a dark green dress, and matching high heels. A pair of rectangle pince-nez glasses rested on her nose. A small fang protruded from her mouth, and the whites of her eyes were a pale yellow.

The next of the young adult Caucasian females looked related to the previous one. She had light green hair in a flip, with thick black highlights, and a pink wildflower in it. She wore a green puffy-sleeved blouse, a darker green skirt with tan trimming, tan slide-on shoes, and a red bandana around her neck. She also had a small fang and pale yellow eye whites.

The last of the Caucasians was a high school girl that looked like she was in her last year. She wore a purple sleeveless dress, green gloves that went to her elbows, a pale pink pearl necklace, fishnets, and yellow high heels. A green ribbon tied her hair into a ponytail, and a black bowler hat rested on it. Her eyelids were half open, showing purple eyeshadow.

"Welcome to our clubhouse!" Robin said, guiding Penny in.

"Hey." The young adult African-American said, with a deep bass voice, and little enthusiasm. "I'm Felix."

"Hi, there!" The middle school African-American said, with a hint of sassiness in her voice, yet it was slightly masked by her cheerful voice. "I'm Molly!"

"H-Hello." The elementary school African-American tried to squeak out, but she sounded pretty shy. "I-I'm Wynona."

"Pleased to meet ya!" The taller Caucasian middle schooler said, with a slight Cajun accent. "I'm Terry!"

"Pleasure to be in your acquaintance." The smaller Caucasian middle schooler said, sounding less like a kid, and more like a little Southern gentleman. "I'm Bernie."

"Hello, there." The older Caucasian young adult said, in a Southern, yet classy accent. "I'm Monique, and thisss is my sssissster Courtney."

"Hi!" The younger Caucasian young adult said.

"It is being my pleasure to be meeting you, no?" The Caucasian high schooler said in a slightly haughty Hungarian accent. "I am Moxie, famous vaudeville star."

"And with an ego the size of California." Felix said under his breath, though Moxie thankfully didn't hear it.

"We're gonna help you, okay?" Courtney assured Penny, but she wasn't paying attention to her that much. Her view was focused on Wynona, who looked liked she had claws, and scratching a block of wood with them…

"What's going on with Wynona…?" Penny asked, looking a little shocked.

"Oops, looks like the secret's out." Felix said, sounding more sarcastic than worried.

"Okay, you know 'dat rock ya saw in 'de swamp?" Robin asked, while Penny nodded. "And ya remember how I ran 'dat fast during 'de dodge ball game?" Nod again. "Well, 'dat rock was a meteor. It splashed us with 'de contaminated water, and we gained 'dese strange powers."

"What kinds of 'powers'" Penny asked.

"Well, me an' Molly can run fast, Bernie can hover for short distances, Wynona can grow claws, Felix can jump for long distances, Terry is almost invincible to blows, Courtney and Monique can crawl through virtually any space, and Moxie can imitate anything."

"I believe all but the last one." Penny said.

"I believe all but the last one." Moxie said, repeating her, and sounding exactly the same.

"Knock that off."

"Knock that off."

"I'm serious!"

"I'M serious!"

"Ya get it?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, I get it." Penny said, sounding a little miffed.

"Do you have the paper?" Molly asked.

"Yeah." Penny said, giving it to her, as she stamped it with a murky green stamp that looked like a briar.

"And now, we give you…" Terry said, trying to make it sound dramatic. "…THE SLINGSHOT!!!"

"The slingshot?" Penny asked.

"Th-the slingshot!" Wynona said, though it was hart to tell if she was nervous, or excited.

"What is the slingshot?" Penny asked?

"The slingshot is everything!" Courtney said.

"Everything that once was and ever will be!" Monique added.

"The slingshot controls time and space!" Bernie said.

"Love and death!" Robin continued.

"The slingshot can see into your mind!" Molly said.

"The slingshot can see into your SOOOUL!!!" Moxie emphasized.

"Really?" Penny asked, sounding shocked, and a little scared. "Th-the slingshot can do all that?"

"Heh, no." Felix said, finally smiling, while Penny gave a scowl.

"Okay, that was fun, but here's the slingshot." Bernie said, giving her a wooden slingshot stained purple. For some reason, it smelled like raspberries.

"All right, thanks!" Penny said, shoving it into her suitcase's front pocket.

"You're next place is outside 'de woods." Molly said. "Just look for 'de old movie lot, and you're there!"

"Okay!" Penny said, and started to walk out. "Goodbye!"

"Bye!" All nine of them said at the same time, and Penny was back on her way. She walked for some time, when she suddenly saw it: the light at the end of the woods! In excitement, she started walking faster, her grin getting larger. She was almost there, until...someone grabbed her wrist, and dragged her off into the woods!


	9. Lights, Camera, Action!

Penny pried her wrist out of whoever grabbed it when they stopped running. She clicked her flashlight on, to get a view of who it was. It was a male high school student a year or two older than Penny. He had short green hair with two stray hair sticking out, and wore a blue top hat with a yellow band, a red waistcoat with a yellow button, with a blue short sleeve shirt with a stiff white high collar under it, a yellow ascot, a black suit coat with tails, green pants, blue shoes with yellow spats, and blue gloves. He also held onto a red umbrella with a tan handle. He was trying to block out the light with his free hand.

"Jiminy?" Penny asked. She knew him from her Study Hall. "Why did you do that?"

"Ssh! Be quiet!" He said, trying to get Penny to stop talking. When he succeeded, he carefully looked through the foliage, to see if the coast is clear. Instead, he saw one high schooler that looked that he was in his last year, and a middle school boy. The high schooler wore a grey waistcoat, blue cape, blue pants, orange shoes with blue spats, a white ascot, gloves with a few holes in the fingers, and a red top hat over his short, yet slightly messy orange hair.

The middle schooler wore a blue t-shirt with a green and pink poncho with long sleeves that covered his hands, brown pants, light brown shoes with darker brown spats, and a tiny blue top hat over his long and messy brown hair.

Both of their outfits were patched up like crazy, and their top hats were old and battered. The high schooler shiftily looked left and right every so often, while the middle schooler just stupidly stood there. Penny and Jiminy knew them. The high schooler called himself "Honest John" but everyone else knew that his real name was John Worthington Foulfellow, and was definitely NOT to be trusted. The middle schooler was simply known as Gideon, "Giddy" for short. Penny remembered them at the lunch room, trying to swindle a high school girl into buying lunch for them. She also remembered the aftermath, with John writhing on the ground, holding onto his chest, and Gideon's sleeves being wrapped around him like a straight jacket.

"The girl has to be here somewhere!" John said, still looking, as Gideon nodded in agreement.

"You're stuck with them staying there." Jiminy said.

"Not for long." Penny said, pulling out the slingshot, and grabbing a worm that was crawling on a nearby tree limb, and then shooting it onto John's cape collar, though he thankfully didn't notice. She then grabbed out the whistle, and blew it, summoning Fonzie to her aid. He gracefully landed onto outstretched finger, and she gave him a little pet on the head.

"Okay, how is he going to help?" Jiminy asked, not getting the plan.

"Watch." Penny simply said, then pointed at the worm that was still on John's cape. "Fonzie, get the wormie!"

That was like saying that Fonzie won the lottery to him. He eagerly swooped at the worm, which ducked down into John's shirt, making Fonzie attack.

"What? Hey! Giddy! Get! This! Bird! Away! From! Me!" John said, punctuating each of Fonzie's pecks with a word, as Gideon hastily tried to help. Somehow, Gideon managed to gain a mallet out of nowhere, and tried to hit Fonzie, who landed on John's hat, carrying the worm in his beak. Fonzie, seeking danger, simply flew back into the forest to Penny, making Gideon forcefully hit John on the head with the mallet. He wasn't too pleased, as he grabbed the mallet out of Gideon's hands, and grabbed one of his friend's sleeves, dragging him out of the forest.

"Giddy. Now. Sir Harlan can find that girl by herself!"

Now that the coast was clear, Penny sent Fonzie away with his snack, and was about to go out, when she wondered something.

"Hey, Jiminy?"

"Hm?" He was busy watching Fonzie leave.

"Who was that 'Sir Harlan' that John was talking about?"

"You haven't heard?" Jiminy asked. "He's the assistant to the fake mayor!"

"Fake?"

"Yeah, the real mayor somehow went on a business trip, and his brother's been taking his place. Not the best mayor either."

"Then why isn't this down spiraling downward like…something that spirals downward?"

"Thank Sigmund for that. He's the secretary of the office, and he keeps everything in line."

"I'll have to do that some time." Penny said, and then started walking back. "See you around, Jiminy."

"Bye!" Jiminy said, as he watched her reach the end of the forest. "And remember: always let your conscience be your guide!"

"Will do!" She shouted back.

In no time at all, Penny was out of the forest, and headed straight to the old movie lot. It was a large area, with a couple trailers, and some old props. A couple crates had movie titles, such as "Lordasarus", "Left with the Breeze", "The Lunch Society", and "Flash of Lunacy." She kept on walking to the edge of the lot, until she reached a middle-sized office-like building. She rang the buzzer with her reverb, and much to her surprise, Mr. Rabban was in the building! Instead of greeting her, he grabbed her arm, and dragged her into the building, not seeming to care, though Penny had opposite ideas.

"Come on!" He said, with as much cheerfulness as he had that morning. Also in the office building was Benny, who she automatically could point out, due to the fact that he was wearing the same cap from the bus. But, there were three slightly newer faces.

One of them was a young adult male, though his eyes made him look really youthful. He wore a baby blue button down shirt, white pants, tan shoes, and a pink bow tying his blond hair into a short and low ponytail. She remembered him as the janitor in the school, who was cleaning up something…unspeakable in the hall between the bathroom and the nurse's office.

The second of the adults was slightly older than Mr. Rabban, and looked like she could be a trophy wife. She had long and slightly wavy red hair that covered her right eye, gold teardrop-shaped earrings, purple eye shadow, and red lipstick. She wore purple Daisy Duke Shorts, and a t-shirt that showed her midriff, and slightly hung below her shoulders, and purple heels. Penny remembered seeing a picture of her on the desk, showing that she was Mr. Rabban's wife. The only thing Penny could wonder was "why?" Why would SHE choose him?

The only high schooler in the room (Besides Penny) was a girl that was two years or so older than Penny. She had reddish-blonde hair pulled into a high and short ponytail with a green bow. She wore a light orange halter top that showed her midriff, a light orange miniskirt, light orange sandals, and a lime green choker with a blue diamond-shaped charm. Suddenly, it dawned on Penny: It was her! She was the one that handed it to John and Gideon at lunch that day!

"You should already know Benny, so, this is Herman, this is my wife, and this is Kitty!" Mr. Rabban cheerfully said, respectively pointing to the people.

"'Sup." Herman said in a New York accent.

"Oh, you're just as cute as my husband said you were!" Mrs. Rabban said, making Penny blush a little.

"Hey 'dere!" Kitty said, making Penny flinch. She had a Bronx accent. "Hey, don't worry. I might be da head cheerleader an' handed it ta John and Giddy today, but yer okay. Yer on da level."

"So, Penn…" Benny said, using her nickname he gave her, much to Penny's annoyance. "Ya got da paper?"

"Yes, like always." Penny said, handing it to him, who stamped a blue clapperboard stamp on it, and gave it back to her.

"Let me see your pass, Penny." Mrs. Rabban said, as Penny took it off her neck and gave it to her. She put some sort of sticker on it, and handed it back to her. It was a barcode sticker.

"What's this for?" Penny asked, putting it back around her neck.

"It's a surprise." Kitty said.

"You don't want it ruined for me, huh?" Penny asked.

"Let's just say, ya might need it." Herman said.

"Okay…" Penny said.

"You've got one more place to go to." Kitty said. "Are you up for it?"

"…Yeah."


End file.
